Etan Patz Jury Finds Pedro Hernandez Guilty In Boy's Death

Update: Pedro Hernandez, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, has been found guilty in Etan Patz's 1979 death, according to reporters inside the courtroom.

Hernandez was convicted of one count of second-degree murder and one count of kidnapping.

NEW YORK, NY — A New York jury currently deliberating murder charges against a man charged with killing 6-year-old Etan Patz in 1979 has reportedly reached a decision. Patch will update this post as the jury's decision is released.

Nearly 40 years after Etan Patz disappeared while walking to his school bus in SoHo, a jury has decided whether Pedro Hernandez is the man responsible for his death.

Etan's story has long been famous in New York City and nationwide: In 1979, on the first day his parents allowed him to walk to the bus stop by himself, he disappeared along the way. He never showed up to the bus stop or to school. His body was never found, although investigators continued searching for decades.

Now, after a second trial in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan that has spanned nearly three months, and jury deliberations that lasted about two weeks, the decades-old case that has mystified the city is drawing to a close.

Pedro Hernandez was first arrested in 2012 and charged with Etan's killing. In his first trial, jurors were unable to reach a consensus. A lone holdout juror was unconvinced of his guilt, causing the judge to declare a mistrial in May 2015. Hernandez has confessed multiple times to killing the boy throughout his life, including to his ex-wife and to police. Hernandez's defense team says the versions of the story have varied in his different tellings. His lawyers say the 56-year-old has a personality disorder which made it difficult for him to distinguish reality from delusions, and that he made up his confesions. His defense team has also suggested that a different man is responsible for Etan's death.

Prosecutors allege that Hernandez sexually abused Etan before killing him. In the state's version of the story, Hernandez, a former bodega worked, used the promise of a free soda to lure Etan into his shop before he attacked the boy in the basement of the building.

There exists no physical evidence definitively connecting Hernandez to the boy's death.

Here's more information about the case.

This post has been updated with additional information.

Image via Rich Mitchell on Flickr